When Greenpeace was recruiting in England in the mid-'70s, the organization wanted the ""most ornery sonofabitch"" available, according to Wilkinson, who fulfilled the requirement, eventually becoming director of Greenpeace UK. With freelance writer Schofield, he here recounts those heady years of challenge and confrontation. There was the battle to stop Britain from dumping nuclear waste into the sea; raids against whaling ships; monitoring military bases in Antarctica. Wilkinson gives a frank assessment of Greenpeace's exploits; he discusses the internal conflicts and personal problems. By the early '90s, he felt that the organization had lost direction, a victim of its own success. Wilkinson resigned to become an environmental consultant. Good adventure and an instructive look at Greenpeace's formative years. Photos. (Nov.)